Chinese culture all the rage at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics

From the classical music figure skaters choreographed into their dances to the Chinese New Year celebration intertwined with the Olympic vibe, Chinese culture stole the show at Milano-Cortina 2026, intriguing Olympians, audience, and locals in Italy.

With its ethereal tune playing to the elegant step sequence, jumps, and lifts of figure skaters Han Cong and Sui Wenjing, the melody of A Tapestry of a Legendary Land — a dance drama the Chinese pair presented during its free-skate performance on Feb 16 — took the crowd at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on a journey to a world of ancient Chinese aesthetics that felt both timeless and alive.

Inspired by the poetic music, the veteran skaters embraced the finale at their third and last Olympics as a high-profile display of traditional Chinese arts, bringing Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng's masterpiece Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, to life with their enchanting performance on the ice.

Despite failing to land on the podium with a fifth-place finish in Milan, the efforts of Sui and Han, the gold-winning pair at Beijing 2022, won over their fellow competitors.

"I love her program and her elements in expressing the captivating culture," Japanese skater Riku Miura said of her idol Sui after winning the pair gold in Milan with her partner Ryuichi Kihara.

Knowing that it would be a long shot for them to medal again, Sui and Han, who only came back to competitive skating in June after a long break since their home Games in 2022, took pride in the mission accomplished in Milan.

"Coming into our third Olympics, one of our main goals, while trying for another medal, was to promote the beauty of Chinese culture," Sui, who choreographed their program herself, said. "For that, I think we did it."

"We'd like to introduce the Chinese culture to all of the world," Han added.

And it seems the world is listening.

Canadian skater Madeline Schizas actually did her part presenting the romantic side of Chinese classics earlier than Sui and Han did. The four-time Canadian champion skated to Butterfly Lovers during her free skate of the team event on Feb 8, citing her affection to the concerto.

"I've loved this music since I was a junior skater," she said. "It's a love story — the Chinese Romeo?and Juliet."

"I'm happy that I'm getting to showcase an Eastern piece of classical music. So often there's a really Western worldview in the music we're choosing to skate to. I was excited to bring something different here."

While Chinese music was showcased on the ice, China's festival rituals, calligraphy, martial arts, and culinary culture, among other traditions, also caught on in Milan with the Olympic exposure shedding a light on the Spring Festival atmosphere in the city.

Hours after Sui and Han's last dance on Feb 16, which happened to be the Chinese New Year's Eve, Milan's renowned Chinese community Via Paolo Sarpi was bustling with tourists and spectators — apparently coming from the Games — draped in their respective national flags, enjoying night life in the pedestrian neighborhood illuminated by red lanterns and decorated with Spring Festival couplets.

Vendors selling traditional Chinese street food, such as roujiamo, or Chinese meat sandwich, fried dumplings, and liangpi, a cold noodle dish with chili oil topping, attracted the longest queues among all businesses on the street, while shops offering Chinese handicrafts and souvenirs were also crowded.

"I do think there is a lot in common between China and Italy. For example, we like roujiamo as much as we like our panini," said Flara Morelli, a volunteer of the Games, who hung out with her friends at Via Paolo Sarpi after serving at the ice hockey arena.

Morelli's understanding of Chinese culture, which she confessed was limited to only food and kung fu movies, has grown a lot, thanks to her fellow volunteers from China.

According to the Milano-Cortina 2026 organizing committee, about?1,500 Chinese volunteers?had been recruited and served during the Games, as one of the largest and most active overseas groups on the Team26 program.

"I really learned a lot more about China (working with them)," Morelli said. "Trading pins with them was really fun and the ones with pandas are most popular everywhere."

With the Games now closed, the Chinese New Year celebration will carry on with the grand Dragon Parade — an annual tradition in Milan which was postponed this year due to the Games — which will take place on March 1 at Piazza Sempione, just in front of the Arco della Pace where the Olympic flame was extinguished on Sunday.